Lakers-Thunder Preview

By TAYLOR BECHTOLDPosted Mar 12 2014 3:34PM

The memory of Jodie Meeks' performance in a stunning loss to the Los Angeles Lakers can't be far from the minds of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Now Oklahoma City can only hope it's solved its defensive issues heading into Thursday night's rematch.

The Thunder seek their fifth straight home win and eighth in a row - including the playoffs - against the Lakers in Oklahoma City as the teams meet for the second time in five days.

Los Angeles announced Wednesday that Kobe Bryant wouldn't return this season, but the man filling Bryant's shoes did a pretty good impression of the former MVP in the Lakers' latest game. Meeks scored a career-high 42 points Sunday as Los Angeles snapped a three-game skid with a 114-110 home win over the Thunder.

He made 6 of 11 from 3-point range and all 14 free-throw attempts on the way to becoming the third player to reach the 30-point mark for the Lakers (22-42).

"(My teammates) did a great job finding me in transition and in some set plays," said Meeks, who helped Los Angeles rally from an 18-point deficit. "So I give credit to those guys for helping me out with a big game."

Meeks was held to nine points on 3-of-16 shooting in a 122-97 loss at Oklahoma City on Dec. 13 before missing a 107-103 home loss Feb. 13 due to a sprained right ankle. Since returning from that five-game absence, he's averaging 19.2 points and shooting 51.4 percent in his last 11.

The Lakers have scored 115.3 per game - 13.3 above their season average - while hitting 45.2 percent from beyond the arc over their last six.

After giving up an average of 121.0 points and allowing opponents to shoot 48.3 percent from 3-point range while losing both games on their brief trip, the Thunder (47-17) held Houston well below their 106.5 scoring average in Tuesday's 106-98 home win.

"Well, I don't have to say we need to get better on the defensive end tonight, but we're gonna keep working on it," coach Scott Brooks told the league's official website. "I'm proud of our guys, we challenged ourselves (Monday) in practice that after 48 minutes we could be satisfied with the results."

The Northwest Division leaders haven't had much trouble offensively, averaging 114.1 points in their last eight games.

Kevin Durant finished with 42 points Tuesday after recording his third triple-double of the season with 27 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds against the Lakers. The MVP candidate, vying for his fourth scoring title in five years, has averaged 36.3 points over his last four.

Durant has also scored 25 or more in a career-high 29 consecutive games, a streak he's likely to extend against a Los Angeles team that has surrendered 129.5 points per game in its last four.

Serge Ibaka contributed 21 points and 15 boards Sunday as Oklahoma City outrebounded Los Angeles 59-36. He's pulled down 32 rebounds in the season series, helping the Thunder hold a 162-119 advantage on the glass while winning two of three.

Oklahoma City owns an NBA-best plus-4.9 rebounding margin, while the Lakers have a league-worst minus-7.5 margin.

Pau Gasol, averaging a team-high 9.9 rebounds, finished with 20 points and 11 boards in Sunday's win. He's averaged 24.3 points in his last four overall.

The Lakers have dropped seven straight meetings in Oklahoma City by an average of 15.7 points, including the 2012 playoffs.

Copyright 2014 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited

Westbrook, Durant lead Thunder past Lakers

By CLIFF BRUNTPosted Mar 14 2014 1:35AM

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) The Lakers caught the Thunder by surprise on Sunday.

Los Angeles had no such luck in the rematch. Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant scored 29 points apiece, and Oklahoma City avenged Sunday's surprising loss to the Lakers by rolling past them 131-102 Thursday night.

Lakers guard Jodie Meeks, who scored a career-high 42 points on Sunday, was held to 19 on 6-for-15 shooting. Westbrook said the Thunder didn't pay extra attention to Meeks.

"We just did what we did," Westbrook said. "He just happened to get lucky the first time. We ain't worried about what Jodie Meeks does. We're just worried about playing Thunder defense."

Westbrook shot poorly against Lakers on Sunday, but he made 9 of 17 shots and had nine assists in 23 minutes in the rematch. He's become more focused on passing and has been more efficient since his return from knee surgery.

"It's real fun, especially when we win," he said. "As long as we continue to do a good job of playing together and everybody gets in a good groove, I think we'll be all right."

Serge Ibaka added 15 points, 13 rebounds and a season-high seven blocks for the Thunder, who won their second straight and climbed within half a game of San Antonio for the top record in the Western Conference.

"We knew they were going to be ready, especially here at home," Lakers center Pau Gasol said. "They're playing for trying to get the best record in the league, we're not. They're situation is just a tiny bit different than ours. "

Kent Bazemore scored 16 points and Gasol added 14 for the Lakers. Los Angeles allowed at least 131 points for the fourth time in five games.

"I didn't think we were focused coming out like we were Sunday, and you can't do that against this team," Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni said. "We can't lose them in transition two or three times. They're a good offensive team, so if you give them extra points, then you are going to get beat."

The Lakers trimmed an 18-point deficit to 11 in the second quarter before Westbrook returned from a brief rest to ignite a 13-1 run that gave the Thunder a 52-29 lead.

Oklahoma City led 60-46 at halftime. Westbrook had 14 points and six assists in 15 minutes and Durant had 13 points. The Thunder outrebounded the Lakers 33-16 in the first half and held them to 37 percent shooting.

Durant, who rarely gets into foul trouble, picked up his fourth with 10:16 left in the third quarter. Ryan Kelly hit a 3-pointer with 7:30 left in the period to cut Oklahoma City's lead to 69-58, causing the Thunder to call a timeout. Oklahoma City's Caron Butler hit a 3-pointer right out of the short break and Ibaka followed with a midrange jumper to boost the advantage to 16 points. Westbrook drained a 3-pointer to push Oklahoma City's lead to 23 midway through the quarter, and Westbrook wore a broad smile as the Lakers called timeout. By the time Durant re-entered the game, Oklahoma City led 90-68.

"When the game was kind of getting out of whack, I just felt like it was the right time to pass the ball, rebound or score, or whatever it took to get us over the hump and keep us rolling," Westbrook said.

In the final seconds of the third quarter, Ibaka swatted a shot by Xavier Henry and the Thunder rebounded. Butler hit a 3-pointer in the final second of the period to push Oklahoma City's lead to 101-77.

"I think it's hard to play the same team twice back-to-back so that was a little difficult, but it is what it is," Gasol said. "We can't make any excuses and we have to deal with it."

NOTES: Thunder G Andre Roberson, who has spent much of the season in the D-League, got his fifth start. ... Westbrook scored nine points in the first four minutes, including a dunk to start the game. ... The Thunder shot 57 percent in the first quarter and led 33-19 at the end of the period. The Lakers shot just 31 percent in the first 12 minutes. ... Butler had 11 points and six rebounds on his 34th birthday. ... Durant was issued a technical foul with 23 seconds left in the first half.

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Copyright 2014 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited

Notebook: Thunder 131, Lakers 102

THE FACT: Kevin Durant has now scored at least 25 points in 30 straight games, the longest such streak of his career and the longest in the NBA since Michael Jordan had 40 straight in the 1986-87 season.

THE LEAD: Oklahoma City's Big Three had huge nights and the Thunder crushed the Los Angeles Lakers 131-102. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook each had 29 points, Westbrook also dished nine assists and Serge Ibaka had his 24th double-double with 15 points, 13 rebounds and a season-high seven blocks.

The Thunder put the clamps on the Lakers' offense, holding them to just under 40 percent shooting and holding Jodie Meeks (who torched OKC with 42 points on Sunday) to a pedestrian 19 on 6-for-15 shooting.

Meeks led five Lakers in double figures. Kent Bazemore had 16 and Pau Gasol chipped in 14 but he was just 5-for-12 from the field.

Caron Butler, acquired just after the trade deadline after Milwaukee bought out his contract, is fitting in well. He played almost 29 minutes and scored 11 points and hit three 3-pointers.

The Thunder (48-17) dominated the Lakers (22-43) on the boards with 60 rebounds (a season high) to 37 for L.A. and in transition where the Thunder scored 31 points on 10-for-11 shooting.

QUOTABLE: "I thought we came out with a good defensive mindset. They're really hard to guard, a lot of times they have three or four 3-point shooters on the floor with Pau. And I thought we did a pretty good job of matching up in transition and we didn't give them a lot of easy looks."--Thunder coach Scott Brooks

TURNING POINT: In the third quarter, the Lakers had whittled a 23-point Oklahoma City lead down to 11 after a Ryan Kelly 3-ball. Then over the next 3:30, the Thunder zipped out on a 21-5 run to push the lead on out to 27 points, icing the win.

QUOTABLE II: "Probably because they're longer, taller, stronger, faster and better jumpers than we are and we missed a lot more shots."-- Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni on the Thunder domination on the boards

HOT: The Thunder opened the game hitting eight of their first 11 shots (72.7 percent) and finished the first quarter at 56.5 percent...Westbrook was 4-for-6 (11 points) in the first quarter...Ibaka was 4-for-5 (nine points) and eight rebounds in the first half...OKC outrebounded L.A. 33-16 in the first half and 60-37 for the game...Durant was 5-for-9 (16 points) in the second half...The Thunder were 8-for-13 (61.5 percent on threes in the second half.

NOT: The Lakers opened up 5-for-16 (31.3 percent) and finished the first quarter at 30.8 percent...Meeks was 1-for-6 (three points) in the first quarter and 2-for-7 (six points) in the first half...L.A. finished the half at 37 percent...Gasol was 2-for-9 (seven points) in the first 24 minutes...Bazemore was 4-for-12 (nine points) in the fourth quarter.

GOOD MOVE: Brooks decided to start rookie Andre Roberson Thursday in place of injured shooting guard and defensive whiz Thabo Sefolosha. Second year man Perry Jones III had been filling in for Sefolosha. The move immediately paid off as Roberson stole the ball from Meeks on the Lakers' first possession, fired a pass to Westbrook who slammed home the game's first two points. Roberson finished with eight points and seven rebounds.

GOOD MOVE, TOO: Late in the second quarter, Westbrook grabbed a rebound off a Gasol miss and then raced up court, weaved his way through four Lakers who couldn't touch him and then on in for a layup.

ROOKIE WATCH: Thunder center Steven Adams started again for the injured Kendrick Perkins but played just under 12 minutes. He had four points and three rebounds. Lakers forward Ryan Kelly started and played almost 29 minutes. He scored 12 points, handed out six assists and grabbed four rebounds.

NOTABLE: The Thunder have now beaten the Lakers eight straight times inside Chesapeake Energy Arena and win their season series with them 3-1.